Spokane Falls Community College is currently offering a revamped developmental education math 3-course sequence based on the CRS (College Readiness Standards). The grant project deepens and extends the existing work by focusing on faculty support/development (through faculty inquiry groups) and on evaluation/assessment efforts; the department also plans to extend the restructured curriculum to other modalities: Math Learning Center, Institute of Extended Learning, and online.

We are planning a department retreat on Oct. 15 to share with our department the next steps. Prior to that retreat we are asking everyone in the department to try a CAT. Here are some resources concerning CATS we have found: NTLF

Spring Retreat 2010 Vision Exercise

1. Has our focus on pre-class preparation changed student attitude toward learning math (Focus group/survey) 2. Is our work changing our own classroom practice? Our own attitudes towards teaching? Our own attitudes toward how students learn? How? (Focus group/survey) 3. Have students met the standards of a particular CALO? One period-long task scored by rubric – by group (possibly a relative measure, mastery not necessarily the goal) carefully defines success. 4. Do students see the value of using math outside of math class? Maybe ask at the end of the quarter (students – college level) 5. What is the “acceptable” level of achievement? Novice, proficient, expert, advanced? 6. Has our focus on pre-class preparation changed student behavior? (Focus group/survey) 7. Can students proficiently complete some identified procedural skills? Possibly use items from long-used common 99 final? Some common items for final-procedural. Identify common misconceptions. 8. Are students more confident in their own abilities to independently approach mathematics? 9. Can students deal well with multiple representations of problems? Is it making a difference? When does the difference show up (98, 141)? 10. Can we design a clear, consistent plan that results in a useable meaningful report? 11. Has our re-design of our developmental math placement instrument worked? Is it a good predictor of success? 12. What is our theory of learning? Do we share the same one? Do we have to?